Warriors governor won't trade young stars to win 'just for Steph'

With Stephen Curry turning 37 next March, the Warriors are under immense pressure to maximize the final few years of his prime. 

However, as presently constructed, the Warriors are nowhere close to contention — as their title odds reflect — and need a blockbuster trade or two to level up.

The quickest way for Golden State to make roster upgrades would be to sacrifice a few of its younger pieces — Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga or Moses Moody — for veteran star power. While fans and analysts alike feel it's incumbent upon the Warriors to get Curry the requisite help to contend for his fifth NBA title, franchise governor Joe Lacob does not perceive it as a pressing situation.

In an interview with "Hoops Adjacent" podcast, Lacob made it clear that the Warriors won't make hasty trades just to give Curry a title-level roster. 

"Marcus, you're assuming that by trading all of your emerging young players, potentially young stars, that you are going to be better," Lacob told The Athletic's Marcus Thompson. "We run analytical models on all that stuff. We will make the deal that makes us better. We look at the short term and the intermediate term and, to some extent, long term as well, but that's a factor."

Lacob then pointed to the Warriors' unwillingness to overpay for Klay Thompson and their agenda to be under the repeater luxury-tax threshold, a goal they achieved in the 2024 offseason. Lacob said he wasn't willing to "bankrupt the entire team's future" just to bring Curry the help he needs.  

"So, within reason, we're going to always try to do whatever we can to win now. Not just for Steph, but for me," Lacob stressed. "For everybody. For our fans. It's everybody, and Steph feels the same way... I think Steph's got a number of years left, but odds would suggest we're getting certainly nearer to the end. And we're aware of it every single day. We want to win, but you wouldn't change my mind. I want to win... We're always trying to get the best team we possibly can, subject to all the different difficulties in doing that."

After striking out in their pursuit of Paul George, the Warriors have been strongly linked to Jazz All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen. To acquire him, they'd need to part with at least Kuminga or Podziemski besides a lot of draft capital. That decision could be made imminently.